For those who live in area’s where the seasons change somewhat dramatically, dressing for climate is a very important part of putting together a formal outfit. Not only style is a concern, but comfort plays a great role in the way a man will feel throughout his day. Perhaps the most functional season in terms of fashion is winter. My favorite season for dressing has always been winter for the simple reason that if it’s cold, you have to wear more clothes, and more clothes means more opportunities to make an outfit look great. This will be an effective guide for those looking to keep warm while dressing formally.

Sometimes you have to state the absolutely bleeding obvious for quite a long time before you get heard. Women’s suffrage in Switzerland, for instance. And now, nice clothes with sleeves. Not, perhaps, a cause célèbre of quite the same soul-stirring magnitude but progress nonetheless. Most dresses and tops on sale in Britain in winter have short sleeves – a hangover, I suspect, from the days when we would have been doing the laundry with a bucket and mangle. Those days may have long gone, but the short sleeves have stuck, which is why we as a nation are obsessed with cardigans. But a long-sleeve top, or long-sleeve dress – if you can find one – looks much smarter and more elegant than a nice dress with a cardie over it.

If you are a vain idiot like me, this one purchase will change your life. I promise. My flat boots are shearling with a furry lining and they are Jimmy Choo so I’m not even going to tell you how much they cost because I can’t deal with all the haters. But I stand by them. I just don’t really understand how it has taken me two decades of adult life to realise that footwear I can wear outside, in winter weather, without risking either frostbite or a slipped disc is a really good idea. I think possibly there is a part of me that is only just coming to terms with the fact that modelling my shoe collection on Tamara Mellon and Carine Roitfeld is not all that practical when you don’t have a driver. A biker boot, an Ugg, an Emu: just do it. You won’t regret it.

Sorry, but are you 12? No. Right then, take that parka off and get yourself a proper coat. Yes, you are quite right, there was a point last year when Kate Moss and Alexa Chung and suchlike wore parkas instead of proper coats and got heaps of adoring column inches for it. But, firstly, they mostly wore them with Chanel mini-dresses and baby giraffe legs, which not all of us have, and secondly, that was last year, people! This year, get a proper coat. This does not have to mean an expensive coat. It means a grown-up coat that doesn’t make you look like a slobby fourth former on a field trip. The Jil Sander collection at Uniqlohas some beautiful tailored wool coats for around £100; at the time of writing I am still on the waiting list for my Whistles dream number and am wearing an Oasis camel coat.

Right now, a simple pair of black or charcoal trousers is a hot ticket fashion item. Obviously, if you are a trouser girl you don’t actually need a signed permission slip from the Paris fashion week powers-that-be to wear them, but the fashionability is still relevant. Firstly, because in fashion, trickle-down theory really does work, which means there are currently great trousers to be had on the high street, so you may as well take advantage, or you will kick yourself when your favourite pair falls apart in six months’ time and the shops are full of calf-length skirts. Secondly, because if you can basically wear what you always wear and look like you’re working a catwalk look, that’s an easy win, no?

There, I’ve said it. Because truly, what’s the point? They are silly. Just silly. Either you can’t use your arms at all or your arms stick out of holes at an awkward angle so you look as if you are doing a Punch & Judy show. Plus, anyone who would actually be impressed by the fact that you are wearing a cape is a bit of a prat. Yes, superheroes wear capes, but usually they wear them for flying. Can you fly? Quite. Take it off. Now.

Clothes with a strong narrative are brilliant in magazine shoots, where the whole point is to create a compelling backstory for the bland teenage twiglet who is wearing the clothes. But here’s the thing: you have a backstory already. It’s called your life. Channelling a bossy-but-brave-war-hero thing is distracting and confusing. Military fashion has its uses: soldiers need coats that do up securely and are waterproof, which are useful coat-properties. But don’t get carried away.

How much do you really know about proper winter dressing? Can you guess how much heat you lose through your head without a hat on? Would you be able to recognize the warning signs of frostbite on poorly protected fingers? If you can already answer these questions correctly, stop reading and get back to teaching that winter-survival course. If not. read on for the answers to these questions, and bundle up like a pro this winter.

While winter is a great time to experience breathtaking landscapes and snowy sports, it is also a potentially hazardous season for people caught out in the elements. Unless you live in an igloo and call the Arctic Circle home, you likely haven’t learned all there is to know aboutdressing for the cold.